Bml93's Film Diary for 2013: March

March started of rather poor quality-wise, which was something that kept happening throughout the entire month. I saw the second season of Game of Thrones, which took some time away from seeing other films. That I turned too my old games (which you'll find in my game lists) stole a lot of time as well. Meaning that I only saw 18 films this month. Three of them were re-watches and I got one trip to the cinema.

This film did give me the creeps yet another time. It's just genuinely creepy. One might say that atmosphere is not always enough in order to create a goosebumps-inducing film, which I would normally agree with, but Sinister gets right under my skin because of its atmosphere. Still it manages to take that atmosphere and place it into some well effective scares. It's easily one of the scariest horror films in recent years, even if it can reach the same height as Insidious or The Woman in Black because of one simple thing.

And that's the ending. It's rushed. Is it unsettling and depressing? Yes. It's in many ways a good ending to this film, but it did come out of nowhere, and felt more like a last minute twist that wasn't really a twist.8/10 Up from a 7/10.

I think the Swedish, original version is quite good, but if you were to ask me to pick one as the superior one, I would choose David Fincher's version. His film is darker, grittier and more brutal than the original, but it's also unquestionably thrilling. This is a story that's tailor-made for Fincher. He manages to keep this film suspenseful and full of thrilling set pieces, despite me knowing this story far too well. (Third time I've seen this, seen the original twice.) His directing is simply flawless.

One can use the word flawless in regard to the acting as well. Rooney Mara is naturally exceptional, but one who hasn't gotten as much praise as he should is Stellan Skarsgård, who's superbly chilling and brilliant. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo might have been an unnecessary remake to begin with, but Fincher makes this his own film. Proving that one should be careful to condemn remakes without giving them a chance.9/10

Maniac Cop is simply dull. It opens up with a very stylish and cool title sequence, but everything that follows that is just boring. I was completely indifferent throughout the entire film.

The film has basically two lead character's. Tom Atkins during the first half and Bruce Campbel during the second half. This makes me cold towards the heroes. I don't feel anything when Atkins character is suddenly killed off.Besides that, the kills are lacking sting, the action is not interesting and the same thing can be said about the plot.2/10

This is an extremely dumb and insulting film. It's filled with so many plot holes that one might think that no one really read the script or worked with it again after its first draft. Plot holes might be forgiven, but not the ones as big as they're in this film. The basic premise of the plot might have worked, if skilled people worked on it.

The Last Stand is by no means an award winner. The plot of it is very generic and unoriginal. But sometimes, it's not about what you're telling, but instead how you tell it. The Last Stand tells it simple story the best way it possibly could. It's a very entertaining mix between action, suspense, comedy, gore and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

This is the kind of film you'll just lean back into your chair and open a beer too. The kind of film you'll probably be able to watch several times, as I can imagine that it will have a high re-watch value. It's simply that entertaining.7/10

It's so frustrating and depressing when a film starts of promisingly, only to fall completely apart during the last half. Red Lights is one of those films. The first 45-50 minutes of it is actually quite good and interesting. But then something in it happens, and it takes, for no particular reason, a turn into cramming as much 'disturbing' and 'creepy' images as possible. It doesn't work. And by that, my interest in this film went to zero.

It does also pull one very predictable twist and one completely ludicrous twist. The ending is rushed and doesn't satisfy in any way. But I've already stopped caring by that point, anyway.3/10

Personally, I still find myself preferring Tim Burton's warmer and cosier version of this famous Roald Dahl tale. A tale I think it shouldn't be too difficult to create something good of. After all, everything in it is just so imaginative, eccentric, strange and wonderful.

Gene Wilder is terrific as Willy Wonka. Peter Ostrum, on the other hand, is terribly annoying as Charlie. This film suffers a lot from having a protagonist you want to punch in the face. But, several good songs and weird things makes this an entertaining film that I really enjoyed.8/10

This is a film that's a load of fun. A great buddy/road film with likeable performances from Clint Eastwood and Jeff Bridges. It perfectly mixes action and comedy into a film that's very entertaining for the most part.

I do however feel that it's a bit overlong. There's particularly a segment in the middle that drags out far longer than necessary, without really adding anything essential. But besides some moments, where the pacing was a bit slow, this is an entertaining ride.7/10

If you're going to create a film, at least make sure that there are some kind of stuff happening in it. This film squanders a good cast by having them do absolutely nothing worthwhile. Sure, there are some talking and chess-playing here, but this film doesn't add up to anything. It doesn't go or lead anywhere. What was the point of it?

That being said, it had my curiosity for a while, until I started to figure out that it probably weren't going to go anywhere. It's pretty short and not awful to get through. Liam Neeson is still bad-ass.3/10

Why did this film need to be so bloody long? It overstayed its welcome pretty quickly. I like Emily Blunt and I love her accent. She's a charmer. At times, I found myself laughing during this film. There are some good moments in it, and the chemistry between Jason Segel and Blunt are occasionally fine and easy. But in the end, this felt like a chore to get through.

It's ultimately a film that's more boring than funny. These Rom-Com's ain't really my genre, and to be slightly honest, I don't really see the appeal in them. Maybe they would be good if there was a quality script, loads of funny gags and talented actors (or actors that uses their talents) in them?4/10

This is by no means a particularly good film. It's undeniably stupid, silly, crude and meaningless. It's filled to the core with juvenile humour and braincell killing stuff.

But, I did find it mildly amusing at times. I thought it was funny how Jack Black's character kept stealing stuff from other films in order to create his own story. Like that he and Jack Sparrow saved the world from The Joker and Magneto, with Jack Bauer and they only had 24 hours to do it. Great stuff.4/10

Me and my friends used to enjoy this little film when we were around ten years old, when it arrived. Bumped into it now, and surprisingly, I still thought there was some fun in it. It does actually have some really funny jokes in it.

Now, there is barely enough plot in here to fill the very short running time and the romance in it made me groan as it was very cheesy (and I remember not liking that when I was a kid, as well). But decent animation, some good songs, short running time and a couple of good jokes makes this a decent way to kill an hour.6/10

The psychological issues that The Perks of Being a Wallflower raises occasionally might not work that well with me, as I feel it's partly out of place in this film. But that aside, this is a terrific film. Probably one of the best in this genre. Boasted by strong performances, a smart, charming and clever script, and heartfelt emotion, this was a wonderful experience.

It's one of those few films that I feel I can relate to in many ways. We might not have the same high school culture in Norway, but like the lead character, I could strongly relate to the confusion and awkwardness that comes around in this age. How its like to not be one of the "popular" kids and how troublesome your first real love can turn out to be. Rarely have I felt a connection like that.9/10

The last days I've been watching the second season of Game of Thrones and I think its safe to say that its possibly my favourite TV-series. I'm a huge fan of this genre. Fantasy with swords, kings, sex, dragons etc., its a lot of fun. So this series is well suited for me. Shame that I'll have to wait forever for season 3 to come to Norway. I could download it, but I don't do that.

Used to enjoy the animated TV-series when I was a young toddler, so this one was checked out of curiosity. It was pretty much very dreadful. Matthew Lillard made for a decent Shaggy and Sarah Michelle Gellar is fine to look at. But my general consensus for this film is that its better suited for very young children.

But I still think it should be possible to create quality films, even if you're aiming for young infants. Do kids really think fart jokes are funny? I don't recall being amused by that. This is an unfunny, lame film filled with dreadful CGI. Whoever did the effects for Scooby should never get another job in films.3/10

I'm not really a guy who goes to huge parties. I've always thought that was rather silly, and I've instead preferred to just hang out with a few people instead. So I didn't really identify myself with this film, despite the fact that I'm in this age group. And after seeing this film, I still don't see the point of attending to those huge parties, just to get some cheap things and fun. But that's me.

As a film, this was rather unfunny and very unoriginal. The found-footage genre was tiresome already and it didn't improve itself when combined to another tired genre. 87 minutes of lousy camera work, loud music and boring stupid human behaviour ain't my cup of tea. All though, it was somewhat amusing to see how things went from bad to oh-shit-now-they're-fucked.4/10

It does have a final twist that somehow took me by surprise, even if it was completely ludicrous. This a film that doesn't aim to be a masterpiece, so one cannot really judge it by those standards. It's just out to be a mindlessly silly romp. But one should be able to expect some form of comedy here. A few laughs or something like that. This film doesn't provide that.

The film moves along with a frenetic pace, jumping from one big set piece to another. That would be cool if the director or cast could throw in some humour together with said set pieces. The actors are lacking comedic timing and the situations they find themselves in are just not funny. I don't think I laughed once.2/10

First things first. Making Emma Stone look as ugly and goofy as she did in this film is completely unforgivable. If you want an ugly and goofy girl in your film, then cast someone who is exactly that. Don't ruin Emma Stone's charm and hotness. I've also found out that I really don't like Jennifer Garner. She looks like Julia Roberts evil sister or something (and I don't like her either.)

As for the film itself, I'll have to admit that there were some cute moments in it. So I'll have no problems with understanding why teenage girls would fall for this film, or even anyone else for that matter. Because it does have its moments. I don't even think Matthew McConaughey was that bad in it.

But for me, Ghosts of Girlfriends Past fails miserably at being a comedy. I didn't think it was funny. Comedy is a very subjective thing, and I didn't found myself laughing at things in this film. The twist on the classic A Christmas Carol tale didn't work out and I found myself being more bored than amused.3/10

Do I think there was a slight chance for a film about two old people and sex could avoid being awkward at any point? Not really. Was it awkward? Well, yeah. It was. But then again, you don't really see too many films handling this topic, do you? So in some ways it was kind of refreshing, I guess. Not a film I would watch with my mother, though.

The casting in this film is great. Tommy Lee Jones and Meryl Streep is a perfect match, and there's something amusing about Lee Jones during the entire film. So, it is occasionally funny, even if it's more awkward than funny. I do also think that the everything got wrapped up a bit to quick and nicely.5/10

Bml93's rating:

Presenting the films I saw in March with mediocre English language and awful statements.